One of the Bears draft picks that has been criticized reasonably heavily was the selection of Ruben Hyppolite in the fourth round.
Hyppolite is a speedy but undersized linebacker, and my first thought was that he’d be a good special teams player and that’s why they picked him there. I’ve heard it suggested multiple times that he could have been drafted to play on the strong side, where the Bears currently have a hole in their roster. But in my opinion, that’s nonsense. At 236 pounds, Hyppolite would have to gain too much weight to make that a viable option.
However, a recent question in a Bears press conference to T.J. Edwards has made me rethink the idea a little bit (at 4:47). Edwards was asked about the possibility of moving to middle linebacker.
Question: [Defensive coordinator] Dennis Allen said that you would have an opportunity to play in the middle and sometimes outside backer. How do you view that opportunity this upcoming season?
T. J. Edwards: He’s definitely mentioned that and and just in terms of the way he’s installing is just teaching concepts. He wants everyone to understand everything so that we can go out there and play fast no matter who’s in in what spot which is something I think as a defense it helps you in the end, understanding kind of how the whole picture fits.
But to me I think I’ll kind of do whatever is asked of me. I played Mike most of my career and got here and played a little bit of Will, played a lot of Will, and got to understand that.
I understand the areas I need to be better at, understand the things I do well. So I’m pretty comfortable in both. I think [Tremaine Edmunds] and the rest of linebackers feel the same way. So I think for us, we’re just trying to learn in general kind of the whole concepts of the defense and then from there on out we’ll kind of figure out, I’m guessing, where we’ll play.
Edmunds has underperformed in the middle the last two years since coming to the Bears from Buffalo, where he also never played to his potential. It’s possible that, as suggested in the video clip, Edwards could move to the middle. That might put an undersized, speedy guy like Hyppolite at the weak-side linebacker spot with Edmunds, listed at 250 pounds, on the strong-side part-time when the Bears are in their base 4-3 defense.
Much has been made about what the Bears will do at left offensive tackle, and that is certainly the biggest mystery among Bears observers as the team works out during the offseason going into camp. I’ll have more to say about that in another post.
But I think this situation at linebacker bears watching. That strong side linebacker spot isn’t the most critical one on the field by any means. But they are going to need someone to step in there and play well the relatively small fraction of the time that they will be in base defense. And there’s no doubt that there’s room to improve in the middle full time.